The university started as a boys' elementary and high school. It started offering in 1920 a two-year Associate in Arts in Commerce programme, which was later discontinued in 1931 in favour of a Bachelor of Science in Commerce programme.[13][14] DLSU currently offers coeducational undergraduate and graduate degree programmes through its seven colleges and one school specializing in varied disciplines, including business, engineering and liberal arts.[9]

Research is mainly funded by the De La Salle University Science Foundation.[21] Since 2000, DLSU has been the CHED Zonal Research Center for 10 cities in southern Metro Manila.[22] As such, it evaluates research proposals for recommendation for CHED funding, and monitoring of CHED-funded researches, among others.[23] DLSU research has focused on affective computing and renewable energy. Application of its research has resulted in the electrification of remote areas in the country through the use of micro hydro generators,[24] and the creation of both of the only two solar cars of the Philippines, SINAG[25] and SIKAT.[26]

History

DLSU traces its founding to Manila ArchbishopJeremiah James Harty. Harty believed that the establishment of a La Salle school in Manila is instrumental in preempting the spread of Protestantism in the Philippines through the arrival of the Thomasites and Protestant American churches missions.[34] His request would be later endorsed in 1907 by the Pope Pius X. An envoy of Lasallian Brothers arrived in 1910. Together with Harty, the Brothers searched for a suitable campus. A 13,000 m2 (140,000 sq ft) property in Paco, Manila was purchased for this purpose.[35]

Early history

De La Salle College was established as an elementary school and high school for boys on June 16, 1911 by the three Lasallian Brothers (namely Blimond Pierre Eilenbecker, Aloysius Gonzaga McGiverin and Augusto Correge) who arrived in Manila[36] in March 1911.[37] Classes started on the same day with 125 students. This number would reach 175 by July 10.[38]

The college already had 425 students by 1921. Due to the lack of space in the Paco campus, and the growing population of its student and faculty, the college moved to its present location in Malate, Manila on February 12.[14][37]

In 1931, the College discontinued its two-year program in commerce in favor of a three-year Bachelor of Science in Commerce program, which was approved a year earlier.[13][14]

Second World War

De La Salle College served as a shelter for displaced civilians and wounded soldiers during the Second World War. It was, however, occupied by the Japanese forces, and made into a defense quarters on January 2, 1942.[13] Repeated bombings severely damaged the campus. Despite this, classes continued. De La Salle students shared classes with students from other schools that had closed because of the war, while the American Brothers had left. Meanwhile, high school classes were transferred to St. Scholastica's College in 1943.[40][41]

Classes were eventually discontinued. On February 1, 1945, Japanese forces ordered the occupants of the college and surrounding vicinities to vacate the college. However, Egbert Xavier Kelly, the president of the college, refused. On February 7, Kelly was abducted by the Japanese, and was never found again; he is believed to have been tortured and killed. Around 20 Japanese soldiers came to the campus on February 12 shortly after noontime, and massacred 16 of the 17 Brothers residing in the campus, along with 25 other residents.[13] Only one Brother (Antonius von Jesus) and 21 other civilians survived the event.[42]

1970s marked substantial developments for De La Salle College. For instance, it started admitting female students in 1973.[43] On February 19, 1975, De La Salle College was granted university status. Since then it became known as De La Salle University.[1] It also used the name De La Salle University – Manila.[45] Since 2008, it has since referred to itself only as De La Salle University, being its registered name in the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission.[46] Meanwhile, the Grade School Department was deprecated in 1978.[47][13]

1980s was also as significant. In 1981, De La Salle University shifted from the traditional semestral academic calendar to a trimestral one.[13] In 1987, the university, together with four other Lasallian institutions, became part of the De La Salle University System.[33] The system would later be dissolved in favor of De La Salle Philippines, a network of 18 Lasallian institutions. Meanwhile, De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde became independent of the university in 1988.[11]

Recent history

An explosion occurred at the DLSU portion of Taft Avenue on September 26, 2010 around 5:05 pm PST, the same day as the Philippine Bar exams conducted by the university.[48] The explosive, an Mk 2 grenade, was allegedly detonated by Anthony Leal Nepomuceno who was indicted by the Philippine Department of Justice on April 29, 2011.[49] The blast injured 47 individuals,[50] and resulted in two victims becoming amputees.[51]

Don Enrique T. Yuchengco Hall, a nine-storey neoclassical building. Completed in 2002, the building hosts 20 classrooms, six conference rooms, DLSU's administrative offices and the Teresa G. Yuchengco Auditorium, a three-storey 1,100-seater auditorium. It has a total floor area of 12,254 m2 (131,900 sq ft).[61]

Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall, a 21-storey 90-meter tall neoclassical building, making it the tallest academic building in the Philippines.[9][62] It has a total floor area of 28,000 m2 (300,000 sq ft), and has parking space for up to 120 cars. The building, completed in 2006, houses more than 100 classrooms and faculty rooms, and the College of Education.[63]

Construction of the Henry Sy Sr. Hall began on December 2, 2010 as part of the university's Centennial Renewal Plan, a project that aims to construct and renovate facilities inside the campus. A 15-floor building,[64] it replaced DLSU's football field with plans for completion by December 2012.[65] It is estimated to cost ₱1.4 billion (US$32.5 million).[3][66] In line with this, DLSU entered an eight-year agreement with the Philippine Sports Commission. Under the contract, DLSU will fund the ₱7.4 million (US$171,000)[3] renovation of the Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium. DLSU will get to use the facilities in return.[67][68][69]

The campus, which is relatively small in size for its large student population, suffers limited space. According to The LaSallian each student had only 7.1 m2 (76 sq ft) for himself in 2009. Crowding is expected to only get worse as the university's population has been continuously growing with the growth for 2008–2009 amounting to 27.7 percent. It has also expressed concerns regarding fire safety, citing possible evacuation difficulties should a fire occur at the Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall, and accessibility issues for fire trucks given the lack of wide roads to major buildings. At least three fires has occurred in the campus, including two at St. Joseph Hall.[70] To address the problem regarding limited space, DLSU has resolved to vertical expansion. But this has resulted in overcrowded elevators.[9]

Biñan Campus (Science and Technology Complex)

The De La Salle University Science and Technology Complex (DLSU-STC) is a satellite campus of De La Salle University (DLSU) located in Biñan City, Laguna, Philippines. The 55-hectare campus was built on land donated by the family of the late National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin. It was originally known as De La Salle Canlubang (DLSC), a district school of De La Salle Philippines that provided science and technology-based primary, secondary, and tertiary education. In 2012, the administrations of DLSU and DLSC approved the integration of DLSC to DLSU, becoming the DLSU Science and Technology Complex.

Although smaller (5 ha; 2 acres), only 0.6 ha (1.5 acres) of DLSC's campus is developed. Under the proposal, DLSU would expand the Colleges of Engineering, Computer Studies and Science to DLSC's campus due to its location inside the Laguna Technopark.[71] DLSU fears, however, that it might lose some of its students due to the DLSC campus's distance from Manila (around 42 km).[55]

Makati Campus

The Makati Campus is an extension campus of DLSU located in RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue, Makati City, Philippines. The campus primarily serves the university's graduate business students.

As an non-stock incorporated entity, DLSU is headed by a 15-person board of trustees.[75] The DLSU Board of Trustees, currently chaired by Jose T. Pardo, selects the DLSU President. As resolved by the Board of Trustees on June 2010, the president of De La Salle University must be a Lasallian Brother and be a holder of a PhD. Filipino citizenship is not a must but preferred. Prior to the university's move to its present location in 1921, the president was referred to as the director. The president and chancellor, currently Ricardo P. Laguda, is assisted by four vice chancellors.[5][76] Prior to the reorganization of DLSU in 2007, the chancellor was referred to as the executive vice president.[77] The president may concurrently be the chancellor of the university, as with former President and Chancellor Armin Luistro.[78]

Student government

The University Student Government (USG), headed by Pramela Menghrajani, is the highest governing student organization. Under it are College Student Governments and Batch Student Governments for each of DLSU's colleges and student batches, respectively. Meanwhile, the Legislative Assembly, is the highest policy-making body.[85] Prior to a constitutional change in 2010, the (USG) was known as the Student Council. Among such changes with the new system is the Judiciary Branch, which was created to ensure the accountability of the elected officers in the University Student Government.[85] Among its activities were prohibiting the use of polystyrene in food packages in food kiosks along Agno St, and raising ₱200,000 (US$4,630)[3] for the Achiever Scholar program.[86] It had a total endowment of ₱1,424,790.08 (US$32,900)[3] in 2010, including ₱558,000 (US$12,900)[3] appropriated by the university.[87]

DLSU received 23,495 undergraduate freshman applications in 2010 and 3,428 of them were admitted. In the same year, it had 11,413 undergraduate and 3,366 graduate students, making a total of 14,779. 704 of these are non-Filipino. 53 percent of the undergraduate students were male while 59 of the graduate students were female.[7][8] 85 percent of its students come from Metro Manila while almost all reside near the university.[97] In 2011, it had an average of 990 faculty members for the academic year. 69 percent of them held doctorate degrees while 28 had master's degrees.[98]

Grading system

Academic performance is rated from 4.0 (excellent) to 0.0 (fail). Grades 4.0 to 1.0 are separated by increments of 0.5 while 0.0 is immediately after 1.0.[100] Students who attain a grade point average of 3.8, 3.6, 3.4 and 3 are awarded upon graduation summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude and honorable mention, respectively.[101] Graduation occurs every February, June and October.[102] DLSU had 1,050,[103] 1,114[104] and 734[105] candidates for graduation for its June 2010, October 2010 and February 2011 graduations, respectively.

Academic calendar system

DLSU has used the trimestral academic calendar in favor of the traditional semestral calendar since 1981.[13] An academic trimester usually lasts 14 weeks.[106] In contrast, the previous system employed 18-week semesters.

Tuition and financial aid

De La Salle's Tuition fee is one of the highest in terms of annual payment and may vary in different colleges within the university. In 2013, tuition per trimester ranged from ₱57,000[107] (US$1,285)[3] for the College of Law to ₱90,000[108] (US$2,035)[3] for the College of Engineering. Meanwhile, average graduate tuition fee per year in 2009 ranged from US$2,560 for Filipino students to US$2,610 for non-Filipino students.[109]

High school valedictorians and salutatorians of DLSP schools are automatically exempt from paying fees under the Br. Andrew Gonzalez Academic Scholarship. Also, dependents of military personnel who died or became incapacitated during duty enjoy similar benefits through PD 577 of President of the PhilippinesFerdinand Marcos.[110] Meanwhile, children of faculty and staff, university athletes and performing artists, and senior editors of DLSU student publications are provided tuition fee discounts. Further financial assistance may be provided to students with annual family incomes less than ₱500,000 (US$11,600).[3][111]

Reputation

Locally, the university is regarded as one of the top ranking universities in the Philippines, ranking 3rd in the official Philippine ranking of universities run by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED); 1st being UP Diliman; 2nd, UP Los Banos; 3rd, La Salle-Taft; 4th. Ateneo de Manila. and 5th, UST. It was ranked in the QS World University Rankings (601-650) as well as the QS Asian University Rankings (151-160). However, similar to low-performing Philippine universities in global rankings, it has never been included at Times Higher Education World University Rankings since it published its rankings in 2010 or to Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Libraries and collections

The De La Salle University (DLSU) Library, now called the Learning Commons, recently transferred to its new home at the Henry Sy, Sr. Hall.[118]

The college library was established in 1956 upon the merger of the high school and college libraries. It was located on the first two floors of St. Joseph Hall with a seating capacity of 100 persons and a collection of almost 10,000 books.[117] Its collection includes 21,218 titles and 33,741 volumes on language and literature as of 2008,[119] 3,751 titles and 4,898 volumes on fine arts and music as of 2006,[120] and 17,999 titles and 26,526 volumes on philosophy and religion as of 2005.[121] Meanwhile, a 2001 assessment places its number of periodicals at 14,362 titles.[122] The library has among the highest borrowing limit per person (30 books), longest loan period (14 days) and highest overdue fine (₱20 per day; US$0.46 per day).[3][123]

The University Archives, grew from its early beginnings in 1973 as the College Archives, to a major department/unit in 1989, occupying the fourth floor of the DLSU Library. It holds materials of historical significance to the university (many of which was lost during the Second World War), and acts as its "official memory".[124] The Archives now holds not only the theses collection and the university records, but also the special collections (consisting of books as well as non-book materials, manuscripts and personal papers), faculty publications, De La Salle publications, LaSalliana collection, and museum artifacts among others. Its museum collection includes over 600 ceramic artifacts from Southeast Asia dating back as early as 200 BC, almost 400 specimens of rare Philippine banknotes and coins, over 200 artworks,.[125] In addition, it has 298 volumes of film scripts, 766 audio tapes, 66 video tapes, 1,205 volumes on health and nutrition, and 1,050 books and journals on neurology and related disciplines, among others. Several of these collections were donations previously owned by various notable individuals, including Jose Diokno, Francisco Ortigas Jr., José Javier Reyes and Lorenzo Tañada.[126]

Research

Br. Celba John Hall houses the offices of the De La Salle University Science Foundation

The De La Salle University Science Foundation serves as DLSU's repository of research funding providing research grants to faculty, and scholarship grants to students.[21] Registered in April 1998,[129] its total assets were worth over ₱8.5 billion (US$197 million)[3] in 2008.[4] 120 (20 percent) of DLSU faculty had been involved in 80[130] research projects between March 2008 and February 2009. Meanwhile, 39 (12 percent) of its faculty had their research published in ISI-listed journals in 2008.[131]

Student life

Br. Connon Hall, location of the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs[147]

As of 2010, the Council of Student Organizations, a union of DLSU-accredited student organizations, had 39 members.[148] Founded in 1974, the council oversees implementation of university-wide activities, such as annual freshmen welcoming.[149]

The LaSallian (first published in 1960)[43] and Ang Pahayagang Plaridel (Tagalog for The Plaridel Newspaper;[150] first published in 1984)[33] are the official student newspapers of the university. The two, written in English and Filipino respectively, are among the four periodicals managed by the Student Media Office.[27]

Established around 1966, The Harlequin Theatre Guild is the official theater organization of DLSU.[154] It has performed plays written by Palanca Awards laureates, including Unang Ulan ng Mayo (Tagalog for First Rainfall of May) by John Iremil Teodoro, which was staged for the 4th time last December 2011 in line with the LGBT month of Metro Manila[155] and Rizal is My President: 40 Leadership Tips from Jose Rizal by Joshua So based on the book written by Napoleon G. Almonte and staged during the May 2009 Presidential Elections.[156][157]

The Animo Squad, known as the Pep Squad prior to its rename in 2008,[162] has won three chearleading championships in the span of its participation in the UAAP and NCAA. These are the years 1938, 1958 and 1989.[163] Established in 1926 with four original members, all members of the Pep Squad were male until 1975.[164]